That Time A Mountain In Wyoming Moved 70 Miles in Under An Hour

Of course, the land-speed record was broken nearly 49 million years ago, but it's still quite the achievement! Heart Mountain, located in between Cody and Powell in the northern part of the state, was once part of the Absaroka mountain range, which is located partially in Yellowstone National Park to the west of Cody. So, how did Heart Mountain end up in its current location?

The world's largest recorded terrestrial landslide, that's how.

49 million years ago, what is known as a catastrophic detachment occurred in the Absaroka mountain range, causing what is now known as Heart Mountain to rapidly move just under 70 miles to it's current location. According to the Geology of Wyoming, "the maximum velocity of the slide estimated to be from one-third to just under the speed of sound (767 mph), the entire process could have been completed in minutes to a few hours."

NASA

It's also been suggested that this catastrophic event was caused by a dormant volcano in the range, further highlighting the region's penchant for scaring all of us with terrifying giant volcanoes. 49 million years ago, before humans were even on the planet, however, a mountain in Wyoming broke the sound barrier. But, if no one was around to hear it... did it make a sound?